9flats, The European Airbnb Competitor, Now Accepting Bitcoin Payments

When Bitcoin made headlines last month for reaching the billion-dollar mark, it became a lot harder to scoff at the crypto-currency. What may have started off as an uber-geeky experiment, backed by anarchists and crazy digital libertarians alone, is garnering more and more legitimacy by the day. And as Rip Empson recently wrote , much of that legitimacy comes from a growing number of startups who have began to support Bitcoin payments. Today, 9flats , which operates a short rentals marketplace similar to and competing with Airbnb, has flicked the switch on its own Bitcoin support. The Berlin-headquartered startup now accepts Bitcoin payment, alongside various credits cards and PayPal. There’s one caveat, however. Bitcoin payment will only be accepted for instant bookings, which make up roughly 50% of 9flats bookings. That’s because the nature of Bitcoins and, presumably, i...